


Forever, and Ever

by gayicedlatte



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, its soft im soft i think this whole fandom is soft rn, reverse proposal?, weak generic title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 23:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayicedlatte/pseuds/gayicedlatte
Summary: David has a stupid idea and then a very good idea.





	Forever, and Ever

_I immediately regret this decision._

He stops dead in the middle of the concourse. There’s a ring burning a hole in his pocket and suddenly all he can think about is how fundamentally _wrong_ it feels to be doing it this way.

He turns around, barely managing to not be jostled by fans as he makes his way back to where their seats are, abandoning his effort to find some kind of information booth. It just exacerbates the feeling, that he doesn’t want to do it like this, with 30,000 people watching, in a way he personally hates and knows is tacky, when he isn’t even certain anymore that Patrick would think it funny or enjoyable at all.

No, this isn’t right.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel like absolute shit having, in a way, failed at proposing to his boyfriend.

He squeezes his way back to Patrick and drops into his seat, putting a hand on his own hip to feel the outline of the ring there, making sure he hasn’t lost it. Patrick smiles and then looks at him curiously. “I thought you were getting food?” he asks.

“Oh!” Amidst his tiny breakdown, he forgot to keep his cover. “Uh, the lines were ridiculous. I’ll go back in a little bit.”

Patrick keeps looking at him, and then takes his hand, “Are you okay, David? I know baseball–well, sports–isn’t exactly your thing. If you’re not having fun, we don’t have to stay for the whole game.”

David holds Patrick’s hand between both of his, “No, no, I’m fine, hon.” There was no way he was ruining this surprise to that level. He tries to remind himself that the game itself was the surprise in Patrick’s mind; he didn’t know he was going to propose, he’s not going to know that he couldn’t do it.

But David would know.

“As long as you’re sure.” Patrick says. “There’s a lot of people here, you’re not anxious are you?”

David wanted to laugh, or sob. Christ, if he only knew. He squeezes Patrick’s hand. “I’m okay now.” It’s true, he does feel a little better, a little more normal, sitting here with him, hands interlaced.

Patrick kisses his cheek right as there’s a crack of a bat and the crowd explodes.

__

He made it through the rest of his failed proposal baseball game much better than expected. He was determined to stay light and fun for Patrick even as he berated himself for the last few innings.

They leave in a push of people and start walking. They’d parked on a city street a few blocks away but it’s a nice night. The cool evening air helps calm David’s nerves. He slides his arm under Patrick’s elbow, who bends it obligingly.

“Thank you for this, David. Really, it was a great surprise.” Patrick smiles at him like he hung the moon and it makes David die a little.

“It was fun,” David nods, looking away.

He can feel Patrick’s gaze lingering on him, like he doesn’t quite believe him, and David is reminded how well this man knows him, reads him. “Well, the concessions left something to be desired but…” he turns back to smile at Patrick, “the company was worth it.”

Patrick grins and they fall silent for a couple blocks, interrupted by the occasional car horn as the traffic backs up.

When they reach the car, the street is lined with cars and brake lights.

Patrick tugs David’s hand to get his attention and gestures to the little park they’d parked in front of. “Wanna wait it out?”

David smiles, letting Patrick lead him to a swing set. Patrick swipes down the seat of one swing with the sleeve of his hoodie and then drops into the one next to it and David nearly breaks down right there.

He sits gingerly on the swing. They rock back and forth absentmindedly before Patrick reaches out and interlocks their fingers between them. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed a little… on edge tonight.”

David tries to nod but starts to feel the dam inside him crack. He can’t _not_ be engaged to this kind, caring, loving man for another second. He clears his throat.

“Close your eyes.”

Patrick gives him a confused look but closes his eyes anyway. David lets go of his hand, trying to be as silent as possible as he moves in front of Patrick.

He pulls the simple gold band out of his pocket. _Jesus Christ, he’s really doing this._

He kneels down, and when he says “Patrick,” it’s distinctly quiet, letting on his terror of how the next few moments will play out.

Patrick’s eyebrows knit together in concern before he opens his eyes. His breath catches, his eyes widen and David’s heart lurches.

He inhales carefully and exhales in a rush, voice shaking, “So, I am a little on edge. I had planned to do this in there and be disgustingly tacky about it but I,” he has to pause to breathe, “I literally hate the thought of that many people watching this, when this is for us and I don’t…I don’t want it to be a spectacle.”

Patrick’s eyes are wet, a hand covering his mouth as he tries not to cry.

“I love you, more than anything.” David shakes his head, trying to shake off tears and sobs and the overwhelming wealth of emotion in his chest. “I never thought in a million years that I would end up with someone so generous and loving and kind. And I don’t want to be without you. Ever.”

He takes a deep breath and has to bite his lips for a moment to keep calm. “Please, _please_ marry me.”

Patrick’s dam breaks and he lurches forward, landing on his knees in front of David, smashing his lips into his in a messy, sobbing kiss. David finally lets himself go and feels his tears slide down his cheeks. Patrick’s arms are tight around David’s shoulders, but he pulls back just enough to answer, “Yes! Yes, I will marry you.”

A sob bursts out of David and Patrick holds him tight for a long moment before he takes the ring from him, both their hands shaking. Patrick starts to put it on his finger when David stops him.

“Wait! Wait, you have to look inside.” David wipes his tears on his sleeve.

Patrick pulls it back off and has to cover his mouth again as he reads the inscription. _A lifetime of promises_ is all it says and Patrick laughs through his tears. “I love you,” he chokes out, “I love you so much.”

David wraps his arms back around him, burying his face in his shoulder, “That was the first time I really let myself consider that we would be together. Forever, I mean.”

Patrick pulls back to take David’s face in his hands. He must be as a loss for words because all he can say again is “I love you.”

David rests his forehead against Patrick’s, “And I love you.”

“You really,” Patrick clears his throat. “You really got me here. I did not expect this at all.” He smiles wide at him and David doesn’t even care that this wasn’t what he expected either.

Patrick seems to realize something, eyes widening, “Were you–you were going to–,” he sputters. “On the jumbotron?!” He busts up laughing. “Tell me you weren’t!”

“I thought you would think it was funny! And you love baseball and I don’t know what I was thinking, okay?!” David tries to defend himself when really…it was a truly terrible idea.

Patrick’s laughter eases and he stares down at his left hand. He shakes his head. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you how I was planning to do it.” Patrick looks back up and there’s a look in his eyes that David still has not gotten used to. His breath hitches.

“Were you…planning…something?” Patrick nods and David’s heart picks up.

Patrick pulls him in for a slow kiss. It’s long and loving and tender and David can’t handle it for very long, at least not in the middle of a public park. When he pulls away, Patrick whispers, “You can have your ring when we get home.”

He has a ring. Patrick has a ring for him. He was already planning to propose to him.

He takes a second to mourn the loss of that moment before he returns to this one.

“My ring?” David breathes.

Patrick takes David’s right hand, smoothing his thumbs over the four wide silver Cartier rings he always wears. “I should say rings.”

David can’t breathe. _He didn’t…_

Patrick continues, “I hope you won’t be too disappointed to switch to gold,” and David’s heart really and truly bursts.

“Patrick,” David could barely get the word out.

It makes sense to David. He’d been doing this since they met; cherishing every little thing David considered ordinary about himself until it became something new, something shiny, something worthy, something Patrick loved about him, helping it to become something David loved about himself. It was more than anyone had ever done for him and he didn’t even know if Patrick was aware he did it.

Patrick interlaces their fingers. “We should get off the ground,” he says. “Those are your favorite jeans.”

David isn’t ready to break this bubble. “I hate these jeans.”

Patrick just gives him an unconvinced look and stands, pulling David up with him. David doesn’t even look around, just watching Patrick with his red-rimmed, puffy eyes gazing down at their hands like a high-schooler.

Patrick finally looks up at him, positively glowing. “Let’s go home.”

—

Even knowing what to expect, David still can’t breathe when Patrick snaps open a long velvet box with four shiny wide gold rings in it. 

He’s pulling off his long treasured silver rings before Patrick’s teasing voice can even ask, “Marry me?”

**Author's Note:**

> I started thinking about how David might propose and then realized that idea fit a prompt I was struggling with because life is serendipitous that way on occasion.


End file.
